Michaela Onyenwere named preseason All-American

The UCLA Bruins are scheduled to be back in action on the hard court next month, and as most teams have returned to practice and are eyeing their December schedules, the AP has released their Preseason All-American selections.

Your very own Michaela Onyenwere was selected to the first-team All-American preseason list, joining Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard, South Carolina’s Aliyah Boston, Louisville’s Dana Evans and Arizona’s Aari McDonald. Howard and Boston were both unanimous selections.

Onyenwere is the second player ever from UCLA to be honored as a preseason All-America, joining Maylana Martin (1999-00). Onyenwere averaged 19.1 points and 8.6 rebounds last season.

“Competitive, consistent, athletic, still growing and totally selfless,” UCLA coach Cori Close said of her star. “I believe she is an All-American and an obvious top three draft pick. But even better than that, she couldn’t care less. She just wants to play her butt off and help our team win.”

Onyenwere, a senior now, is set to become one of the most decorated stars in UCLA basketball history. She was selected as an AP Third-Team All-American following the season last year and has now logged 100 games in her career with 66 starts.

She became the 36th Bruin to reach 1,000 career points and has back-to-back seasons of at least 500 points and at least 18 points per game.

The Aurora, Colorado native currently ranks 19th in career points at 1,449 and should easily rise up these rankings this season.

Congratulations, Michaela!